Sunday, August 7, 2016

Bilingual education helps English language development

Sent to the San Diego Union-Tribute August 7, 2016

Ron Unz is wrong when he states that "Bilingual education programs fail our students," (Aug 5).  Contrary to Unz' claim, the passage of Proposition 227 in 1998, which dismantled bilingual education, did not result in better English proficiency.
It is true that English learners' Stanford 9 scores went up after 227 passed, but so did scores of all students and subgroups in California. A new version of the test was introduced the year before the English-only law was passed. Scores increased each year as students and teachers became more familiar with the test, a well-documented pattern when new standardized tests are introduced. Careful scientific studies have shown no obvious improvement in English language development resulting from the passage of Prop. 227.
Also, experimental studies consistently show that students in bilingual programs outperform comparison students in all-English programs on tests of English reading.

Stephen Krashen

sources:
Crawford, J. and Krashen, S. 2015. English Leaners in American Classrooms. Portland: DiversityLearningK12
Jepsen, C. and de Alth, S. 2005. English learners in California schools. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California
McField, G. and McField, D. 2014.  "The consistent outcome of bilingual education programs: A meta-analysis of meta-analyses." In Grace McField (Ed.) The Miseducation of English Learners. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. pp. 267-299.
Parrish, T. 2006. Effects of the Implementation of Proposition 227 on the Education of English Learners, K–12: Year 5 Report. American Institutes for Research and WestEd.

original article: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/aug/05/utbg-bilingual-prop58/

1 comment:

  1. Also, experimental studies consistently show that students in bilingual programs outperform comparison students in all-English programs on tests of English reading.

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